Dashon Goldson slips on his blue-collar shirt that every San Francisco 49ers player is issued before talking on camera. He refuses to recognize any competition among his secondary teammates for interceptions or hard hits, deflecting everything back to the unit and what it has accomplished as a whole.

While Goldson might be the most outstanding piece so far this season, the sum of all the parts has sure matched up well again.

San Francisco's stout secondary has limited NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and 5,000-yard passer Matthew Stafford along with top receivers Greg Jennings and Calvin Johnson in wins over Green Bay and Detroit. With second-year quarterback Christian Ponder and the Vikings up Sunday, Goldson and the 49ers secondary is looking to build on the success.

"It's not really a competition thing," Goldson said Thursday. "It's more guys want to get it done. It's being in position and putting themselves in position and seeing what they can pick up from the film in order to get their hands on the ball."

Since Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio took over last year, the ball has come San Francisco's way often.

The 49ers tied the Packers in takeaways (38) and finished second to the Pittsburgh Steelers (14.2) in points allowed per game (14.3) en route to the NFC championship game loss to the New York Giants last season. Goldson and linebacker NaVorro Bowman each have one interception so far this year.

Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart are one of the league's top running back tandems, and Minnesota will try to run the ball early.

"I don't think any team is going to come in here and just fold and just give us one dimension right off the top," Goldson said. "We have to force them to be one dimensional."

After finally giving up his dream of winning the Kentucky Derby, preferably as a horse, Martin Fennelly has returned to his love of more than two decades, writing about the people and teams who make Tampa sports go.